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Does bitcoin have a place in national reserves? For the Swiss National Bank, the answer is clear: no. Between excessive volatility and lack of liquidity, the SNB rejects the idea of incorporating cryptocurrency into its balance sheet, despite pressure from bitcoin advocates. While the White House opens its doors for a historic summit on March 7 , Switzerland offers a contrasting spectacle. On one hand, cities like Lugano or Zug flirt with the crypto utopia, transforming the franc into a virtual stablecoin. On the other, the SNB stands firm, hammering that bitcoin remains a “niche phenomenon”. Schlegel does not mince words: “Too unstable, too fragile, too… software.” An astonishing admission in a country where private banks manage fortunes in far more opaque assets. Yet, behind these technical arguments lies a visceral mistrust. For the SNB, accepting bitcoin as a reserve would legitimize an uncontrollable currency. “The Swiss franc is not afraid of competition,” assures Schlegel. Really? Between the lines, one can sense a fear: the fear of seeing digital gold erode the prestige of a safe-haven currency. Ironically, the franc, backed by 40% gold, rejects an asset often compared… to the precious metal. The political tug-of-war intensifies. Against the SNB, the 2B4CH initiative attempts to impose bitcoin through a referendum. The goal: to collect 100,000 signatures by 2026. A symbolic number in a country where 1.11% of the population is enough to shake institutions. But Schlegel remains unfazed: “Software bugs are not part of our monetary policy.” An argument that sounds like a refusal to plunge into the unknown. This debate goes beyond the Alps. El Salvador bets everything on bitcoin, the Czech Republic hesitates, Poland closes the door. Switzerland embodies a paradox: a pioneer of cryptos in private, a guardian of orthodoxy in public. Schlegel recognizes it in so many words: “The market is worth 3 trillion, but remains marginal.” Marginal? Not for the 15% of Swiss who already hold cryptos, according to a recent study. The question of reserves is just a smokescreen. What is at stake here is the narrative battle of the 21st century. On one side, central banks defend their secular monopoly. On the other, crypto-evangelists wave decentralization as a banner. Does the SNB really fear “bugs”… or the loss of financial narrative? Proof that the lines are shifting: the timing. While Trump prepares his crypto summit, Switzerland hardens its tone. Coincidence? Not sure. In rejecting bitcoin, Schlegel sends a message to the giants: “Sovereign currencies remain in control.” Yet, history proves the immutable wrong. Gold was once an innovation. The dollar was too. There remains the thorny question of liquidity. “Our reserves must be mobilizable in the event of a crisis,” insists Schlegel. A weak argument against stablecoins or Bitcoin ETFs, which turn digital gold into a fungible asset in a few clicks. What if the real illiquidity was that… of mindsets? The SNB’s “no” resembles an admission of powerlessness. Powerlessness to control the uncontrollable. To tame an asset that, by design, escapes central bankers. By refusing bitcoin, Switzerland preserves its monetary order… but misses the train of a revolution despite the panic that has reached critical levels.

Polkadot price remained above its make-or-break level this week as Bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies crashed. Polkadot (DOT) fell to a low of $4, slightly higher than the critical support level at $3.60, where it has failed to fall below several times since 2022. The token has held steady above this support level for two main reasons. First, Grayscale and 21Shares have filed for a spot DOT exchange-traded fund, which they hope will be popular among Wall Street investors. Spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) ETFs have done fairly well among investors, as they attracted a combined $40 billion in assets. Second, Polkadot price has remained steady as the network prepares to launch Polkadot 2.0 which will introduce new changes. It will introduce features like agile coretime, elastic scaling, and asyncronous backing. The upgrade’s goal is to reduce the average block time to just 6 seconds and allow dynamic scaling, which will make it one of the fastest layer-1 networks in the crypto industry. Polkadot 2.0 will also lower the barriers to developers aiming to build on the chain. It will do that by introducing an Ethereum Virtual Machine, or EVM, which will enable developers to build dApps without going through the expensive and time-consuming parachain auction process. Polkadot 2.0 will also have JAM, which will enhance its capabilities, transforming it from an interoperable blockchain into a complete suite for building all types of Web3 applications. Dr Gavin Wood– Wrote Ethereum yellowpaper in 2014– Wrote Polkadot whitepaper in 2016– Now released JAM graypaper in 2024The foundation of future Polkadot 2.0 ⭕️It will combine the strength of Polkadot & EthereumA Mega Thread on the future of Polkadot 🧵[1/19]⬇️ pic.twitter.com/eRCqcAbCkK — Emil Kietzman🐂⭕️ (@EmilKietzman) April 18, 2024 You might also like: Polkadot launches JAM course to empower web3 developers Polkadot price analysis DOT price chart | Source: crypto.news The weekly chart shows that the DOT price avoided dropping below the support at $3.60, even as most altcoins crashed. That price is a crucial one since DOT has formed a quadruple bottom since 2022. Like a double bottom, a quadruple one is a highly bullish sign in technical analysis. Polkadot price has also formed a small falling wedge pattern, which happens when there are two falling and converging trendlines. These two lines are now nearing their confluence levels, pointing to an eventual rebound. The first target for this price action is $11.72, the highest swing in November last year and 170% above the current level. The second target will be at $23.80, the 38.2% retracement level. Read more: NFT sales plummet 28.9% to $107m, Pudgy Penguins sales drop 80%

> OPinit Stack The OPinit Stack, a Cosmos optimistic rollup framework, enables Mintia to support various virtual machines, including MoveVM, WasmVM, and EVM. This flexibility ensures that Mintia can cater to a broad spectrum of applications and developer preferences.

> Dev Side Demand On the Layer 2 side, developers gain increased flexibility with virtual machine options, native USDC support, IBC support, 10K TPS, 500ms block time, and substantial incentives based on rollup usage, likely motivating more developers to launch L2s on Initia.

The popular Ethereum (ETH)-focused crypto wallet MetaMask plans to introduce native Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL) support in the coming months. MetaMask announced this week that Solana would be added in May, which represents the wallet’s first native non-Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) support. The project plans to add Bitcoin compatibility sometime in Q3. SOL defied a wavering crypto market on Friday and surged by 7.5%. The sixth-ranked crypto asset by market cap is trading at $147.49 at time of writing. MetaMask announced the new features amid a swelling user base. In a statement issued in February, the wallet’s developer Consensys said that the project’s monthly active users (MAU) rose from 19 million to more than 30 million between September 2023 and January 2024. That’s an increase of over 55%. The number of monthly active users nearly matches MetaMask’s historical high of 31.7 million recorded in January 2022. The wallet also recently inked a partnership with retail trading giant Robinhood that enables MetaMask users to purchase crypto assets directly within the wallet using Robinhood’s order engine. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also recently agreed to drop its lawsuit against Consensys after suing the blockchain software firm over MetaMask last year. The regulator had claimed the wallet acted as an unregistered securities broker.